Exploring global academic repositories for software

This present study investigates the occurrence of research software as part of academic outputs within international institutional repositories (IRs). Previous work [1] analysed 182 academic IRs from 157 UK universities and found that there are a limited number of records for research software in these repositories. Additionally, many IRs are unable to list software as independent research outputs due to the constraints of the underlying Research Information System (RIS) platforms. In the present study, data from OpenDOAR—a directory of global Open Access Repositories—was utilized to conduct similar analyses on international IRs, marking what is believed to be the first census of its kind. A total of 4,970 repositories across 125 countries were reviewed for the inclusion of software, along with associated metadata that could indicate relevant factors. The findings suggest that there is significant potential for making straightforward technical enhancements to RIS platforms to allow for the recognition and recording of software as distinct research outputs, including linking IRs with more development-friendly repositories. We explore the implications of these results, particularly concerning the evident lack of acknowledgment of software as a discrete output within the research process. Lastly, we examine the dedicated software underpinning repositories for academia and their usage.